hemlocks, and spruces. The trees
had never been cut and never
would be, Luzhui explained,
because they hold the spirits of
the Buddha and Living Buddhas,
men believed to be reincarna
tions of other high holy ones.
I had joined Luzhui on a pil
grimage to a sacred waterfall in
the Hengduan Mountains near
Yunnan's border with Tibet. Two
young Tibetan anthropologists
accompanied us to document
the holy sites that abound in
this land of tall trees, soaring
peaks, and rushing rivers. "It's
not only these trees that can't
be touched," said Xirao Sangbo,
one of the anthropologists, "but
also all the trees and animals
beyond a sacred line" the local
Tibetans had demarcated centu
ries ago. "Everything above that
line belongs to the spirit of the
highest mountain, and anyone
SOUTH-CENTRAL
CHINA MOUNTAINS
AREA 309,000 sq. mi.
HABITAT TYPES Moun
tains, forests, savannas,
wetlands, prairies
FLAGSHIP SPECIES
Giant and red panda,
golden monkey, takin,
snow leopard, white
eared-pheasant
ENDEMIC SPECIES
3,500 plants, 75 mam
mals, 36 birds, 16 rep
tiles, 51 amphibians
PRINCIPAL THREATS
Logging, firewood
collection, overgrazing,
soil erosion, human
population growth
who wants to take something from this forest
must offer many prayers to the gods."
Such beliefs, common in the vast reaches of
the Hengduan Mountains, are largely respon
sible for the remaining patches of old-growth
forest in this part of south-central China.
Running north and south, the many ranges
of the Hengduans march from eastern Tibet
into the provinces of Yunnan and Sichuan
and cover more than 300,000 square miles.
Between the ranges run four of Asia's greatest
rivers: the Yangtze, Mekong, Salween, and Irra
waddy. The combination of high mountain
peaks (many soar more than 15,000 feet),
plunging river canyons (some as deep as
10,000 feet), and a monsoonal climate has
created one of the few biological hotspots that
is predominantly temperate.
Here in the Hengduans live nearly 50 species
of conifers. Numerous species of maples, oaks,
bamboos, rhododendrons, lilacs, primroses,
and roses grow among the evergreens, forming
forests that look as if they'd been planted by
someone consulting a garden
er's catalog. Indeed, one of the
most beloved of garden plants,
Sthe
elegant regal lily, was dis
17
covered less than a hundred
rH
PV
years ago in a canyon of the
Hengduans. Yet the mountains
are wild, and in their deepest
haunts roam some of the last
remaining populations of giant
pandas and red pandas, golden
monkeys, snow leopards, blue
sheep, and black-necked cranes.
But that rich abundance of
species has been lost in most
of the Hengduan ranges, pri
marily because of uncontrolled
clear-cutting, fuelwood collect
ing, and hunting. Despite the
sacred protection afforded to
holy sites, conservationists esti
mate that less than 10 percent of
the mountains' original forests
remain. Now, however, Beijing
has launched a massive effort to
preserve what is left. In 1998, fol
lowing devastating floods along
the Yangtze River (which officials
attributed to the intensive timber
harvests), the Chinese govern-
ment enacted a ban on commercial logging in
the Hengduan region. It also forbade hunting,
created dozens of parks and reserves to attract
Chinese and foreign tourists, and began pro
moting conservation education, often through
public slogan campaigns. Through that com
bination of bans, tourism, and education the
government hopes to turn the environmental
tide in China-and ultimately preserve the
country's richest region of biodiversity, the
Hengduan Mountains.
"The government wants visitors to come
to scenic areas and spend money," explained
Bob Moseley, an ecologist with the Nature
Conservancy who had joined our pilgrimage.
"And the officials recognize that to attract tour
ists, they have to preserve the forests and bio
diversity as well as the vibrant Tibetan culture."
A tall, lanky man with a mountaineer's love
of vertical terrain, Moseley has spent the past
year helping the Yunnan government assess
the flora and fauna of the region's forests and
offer ways to conserve both. Officials believe
a national park to be the best solution for
preserving the land and local cultural tradi
tions. The proposed park will encompass the
Tibetan village of Yubeng as well as its sacred
forests, meadows, and ice-capped peaks. And
NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC, APRIL 2002